Olin plant in McIntosh partially closed due to chlorine leak

A chlorine leak Wednesday at the Olin Corp. plant in McIntosh, Ala., about 40 miles north of Mobile, forced a shut down of part of the facility, which manufactures chlorine.

Company officials described the leak as small, and said a monitoring system at the plant detected the release of the deadly gas. The leak, which a federal incident report stated was caused by "equipment failure," was isolated. Production was stopped in the affected section of the plant Wednesday and Thursday, and would remain stopped while the company investigates the leak.

In a statement, Olin officials wrote that the neither employees or people living in the community surrounding the plant were in danger. The statement also says that "Olin promptly notified all the appropriate government agencies regarding this situation."

Officials at the McIntosh Police Department were unaware of the release until contacted by the Press-Register Thursday.